Look at Ray Ray Run

LaRussa did things in the national league, consistently, that gave his team a lesser chance of winning - whether his BP match-ups, his reverse splits, or his insistence on the pitcher hitting 8th and not turning his lineup over so an arm could get 1 or 2 more outs the next inning.

Honestly, it just shook out well for the Sox - perfectly you could say. The Phillies want Harper and they are really the only other team involved - unless you honestly think San Diego is a threat which I do not. You don't join this sweepstakes late and then throw 300 million at him; they would have been in since the start if that was the case. Lozano is in a rough spot and he knows it. The White Sox have no real competition for Manny and it makes them a near a lock to get this done. If there were more more suitors I'd be concerned, but in reality there just aren't

80%

Hawk was awful, but LaRussa was no better. LaRussa was a cheater for one thing - amazing how everywhere he went, big time steroids followed. LaRussa thought he was reinventing the game when analytically speaking he was a moron. LaRussa was as bad a baseball ops guy as Hawk - what he did in Arizona was laughably bad. Managers don't win World Series in baseball; nor do manager "take their team" there. Players do. LaRussa has had some very very gifted players in his career, but his attitude and arrogance were always laughable. Tony always thought he was the smartest guy in the room.

LaRussa the most overrated mouthpiece in the history of professional sports. Getting rid of that blow hard was the best thing Jerry ever did.

Mike "Infield Knock" Caruso

2000 White Sox came out of no where to win the division. I'm pretty sure no one expected Ken Hill to be a big acquisition.

Literally there was no attitude of defeat; you are making this up in your head. Hahn is answering questions as he should - no GM in their right mind would say the entire fan base will be devastated if they don't sign a certain free agent.

Eh, as a 31 year old I do have to admit that most of my life of watching baseball has been a positive. The Sox were the 4th (maybe 5th?) winningest team in baseball in the 90's. Won a World Series in '05. Although, since 2010 things have pretty much been one big disappointment after another. The past few years have been rough for someone who never really saw this degree of losing in his lifetime.

I'm 31 years old. Probably not the oldest but certainly not some infant fan - 3 decades of pain is real. Theres no point in getting emotional or concerned about some dumb quotes on the radio this morning. It means nothing and the sox are clearly still heavily invested in acquiring manny.

Kool aid? Ok. Let me know when you're ready to step off the wambulance. If you think the sox are suddenly out of this then you're more delusional than I thought.

Ok. Not sure how many people need to say the Yankees are out before you realize the Yankees are out. Hal isnt like his dad.

Lol its amazing how irrational people are. Take a step back pal.

The Yankees are not signing manny machado. I'm not sure why people can't accept that.

What is he supposed to say? If we dont get manny, this offseason was a disaster? Is he supposed to continually let Lozano know that they need to acquire him no matter what? These are negotiations. By all accounts and purposes, the White Sox are the favorite.

Wow, everyone needs to relax a little. Allowing the Padres to worry you? My goodness.

He's not going to make everyone great. His work with Lopez, Quintana, and Sale was OK. He was pretty impressive with Kahnle and Swarzak. Cooper has more actual success stories (guys who sucked and then turned it around) than most any pitching coach.

Cooper still doing a good job.

Yes but his extension makes up for the spin rate. Spin rate merely decreases the drop of the baseball making it appear as if the ball rises or has no downward action - increasing the perceived velocity. His extension cancelled out that deficiency and still made his fastball appear harder than it was.

The white sox have allowed giolito to go back to his old comfortable delivery - last spring - and there were tons of positive feedback and results but once the season started he reverted. Giolito strikes me as being a mental midget sadly.

Velocity peaks in your early twenties - many prospects will never throw as hard as they do when they are 18-20. Its not mechanical, its aging and wear and tear on the arm. There are exceptions but giolito was at the point where diminishing velocity was certainly possible - especially if he was a young overthrower which many prospects are now. It is incredibly unlikely giolito ever averages even 94 mph on his fastball ever again.

No, his advanced data was very promising at one point. Giolito just lost his main pitch and it hurt everything else. https://www.mlb.com/news/nats-lucas-giolito-debuts-with-elite-fastball/c-186615010 Nothing fake about that guy.

No. His fastball was an 80 at one point - the highest grade of any pitch. He was said to have the best fastball in the minors. Him losing his curveball definitely hurt when paired with the fastball drop off but his fastball was his bread and butter.

His max last year was 96.7 with an average fastball at 92.6. That is standard difference between max and average. Lucas does not throw 97 mph anymore consistently - it's not his mechanics.

Moncada, sure. Giolito hasn't been trending upward for nearly 4 years now. His fastball was his best pitch and he's lost it. Mechanics arent pulling 5 mph off per pitch. I am not a giolito believer. I certainly hope I'm wrong but for as optimistic as I am about Lopez and his progress last year (which was huge the past two months) I am as pessimistic about giolito.